ROASTED ARTICHOKES

(Carciofi Arrostiti)

2-6 small artichokes per person (according to occasion and appetite)

Abundant fresh mint

1 or 2 garlic cloves per person

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Olive oil

Wash the artichokes, then trim about 12 mm/½ inch from the top of each and all but 12 mm/½ inch from the stem. Wash and dry the mint leaves and chop them very fine together with the peeled garlic cloves and the salt and pepper (a pinch and a grind per artichoke).

Bang the artichokes one by one, tip downward, on a chopping board or other hard surface until the leaves loosen up and you can open them enough to stuff a teaspoon of the mint and garlic mixture down into the heart. Pour about a tablespoon of oil into each artichoke and set them upright on a bed of medium-hot coals for about 20 to 30 minutes. The tough outer leaves will char while the inner leaves and the heart roast slowly. They are done when a leaf comes away at a gentle tug. Eat leaf by leaf with your fingers, as you would a steamed artichoke, discarding the choke when you come to it. Messy but marvellous.

Although in Sicily the greengrocers usually do sell olives, these are also sold by specialised vendors:

Piled in pyramids upon the counters, they form a range of barren mountains, black olives, brown and green, shiny-smooth or wrinkled, as they come off the tree or stuffed with a piece of anchovy or sweet red pepper, dried or salted, preserved in oil or in a brine. Each type has its own mountainous silhouette, rendered less harsh by sprigs of rosemary and tufts of sage, which seen in scale become trees growing upon the mountainsides. Often the mountain range is flanked by plates of artichokes alla cacciatore, or artichokes alla contadina, with parsley and garlic.

A. Denti di Pirajno, Siciliani a tavola, 1970

Artichokes alla contadina, better known perhaps as alla villanella, is the recipe most commonly used for artichokes in Sicily.